People watch as coverage of an ICBM missile test is displayed on a screen in a public square in Pyongyang on July 29, 2017.
Kim Jong-Un boasted of North Korea's ability to strike any target in the US after a second ICBM test that weapons experts said on July 29 could even bring New York into range. (KIM WON-JIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Japan and US Talk North Korea as Tensions Mount

North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has the leaders of Japan and the United States to discuss options to deal with the rogue state.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made it his mission to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, told Japanese media that he and President Donald Trump “had a rather in depth exchange of opinions.”

“We will make every possible effort to protect our citizens’ safety against the threat from North Korea,” he said.

Abe said the two leaders agreed completely on the need for further action, though Japanese officials said the pair did not discuss military action or any “red line” during their 50-minute conversations.

Abe and Trump spoke after Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 28 that experts said is capable of reaching much of the United States mainland. It landed in the sea off the coast of Japan, the second such test this month.

Japan and South Korea are the two key U.S. allies in the region, and both have long been in range of North Korea’s Nodong medium-range ballistic missiles.

The United States has supported Japan with military hardware, including the Aegis Ashore missile defense system, which Japan reportedly favors over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that is partially deployed in South Korea.

Both systems are geared toward slower medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles, rather than faster intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) like those North Korea is now testing.

Rising tensions and the threat from North Korea come as Abe struggles with one of his defining goals as Japanese leader: revising Article 9 of the post World War II constitution, which outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes.

Article 9 also states that Japan will not maintain armed forces with the potential for war.

In practice, however, Japan keeps its potent Japan Self Defense Forces well stocked. Japan has a deal to purchase around 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from Lockheed Martin.

But Abe’s flagging popularity in Japan could make it impossible to maintain the support he needs to amend the constitution. His term ends in September 2018 and some polls have pegged his approval rating at 30 percent.

The Japanese leader campaigned on a conservative agenda not unlike Trump’s: to revive traditional values and strengthen the Japanese military capability, though in Japan’s case that meant loosening limits on the military through amending the constitution.

Meanwhile, the United States has continued to apply pressure to North Korea, with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, issuing a statement that the United States will not attempt to get another U.N. Security Council session on the topic.

The United States has been conducting tests of that system and conducting joint military operations with allies in the region, including flying supersonic bombers and fighter jets over the Korea Peninsula on Sunday.

Trump has tweeted his frustration with China’s role in resolving the North Korean crisis repeatedly, most recently on Saturday when he wrote: “I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet … they do nothing for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”

Trump had previously dialed back his criticism of China’s mercantilist trade practices after the election in an apparent bid to win Beijing’s help dealing with the Kim Jong Un regime.

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